Eye of the Storm, the winds of change
by Laura13483
Summary: This is my first Fanfic, actually the first thing i have ever written but loved all the stories on here and felt inspired - id love to hear what you think, if you like it then ill post another chapter... thanks for reading.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Her head was reeling from what had just happened on her front porch, it had already been a massive night and things had just got a whole lot more complicated.

When she walked back into her room to the man she had finally admitted that she had feelings for, he looked up at her with that same crooked smirk that he always wore, only something had changed, his eyes were softer, content and trusting. He had moved up into her bed, from the floor, and as she entered he pulled back the covers for her to join him, back in the ecstasy they had been just a few moments ago before the whole evening had been thrown into the eye of a tornado.

She couldn't help but admit as she looked at Wade that he was beautiful, she had always known he was hot, but she saw so much more than that now, maybe it was the way the candle light was casting gentle shadows over each of his very finely tuned muscles, maybe it was the way his skin glistened with sweat on this balmy evening or the stubble that always graced his jawline and the fact that it was actually a lot softer on her skin than she imagined it would be, but it was like someone had finally taken a blindfold off her and she could deny it no longer.

Zoe realised that she had been standing in the door way looking at him for too long without saying anything and his expression was starting to change, the smirk remained but she could see the worry in his eyes that maybe she had changed her mind, as he said

"Like what you see, Doc?"

She just smiled at him, crossed the room and crawled back into his arms, into the first place, she truly felt at home since she had moved to Bluebell all those months ago. She realised that this was not a new sensation and that each time he had scooped her up into his strong arms, like after she was bitten by the snake and when he whisked her out of Lavon's homecoming party, she had felt totally safe, protected and loved… home.

She felt his warm chest heave a sigh of relief under her cheek and his long fingers snaked their way up her back, tangling into her hair as he gently nuzzled and kissed the top of her head.

How could she now tell this man that the knock at the door wasn't Lavon, their friend and Landlord checking on her because of the storm as they thought, but was in fact his best friend, the guy he had known since he was 4,one of the few guys that knew the real him, all the crap he went through with his Dad, and one of the few people who really knew how he felt about Zoe, the 'Golden Boy' had just turned up on her door step, through the storm, having just walked out on his own wedding, and confessed is love for his girl, and then kissed her, all while Wade was laying blissfully in her bed, where she wished now that she had stayed.

As she felt his breathing deepen and his heart rate slowing beneath her and his hand gently coming to a halt in her hair, she knew that he was falling contentedly asleep, she could not stop her mind from whirling with the realisation of what had happened with her and Wade, mixed with the shock of George Tucker walking out on his wedding and kissing her so brazenly.

She knew that things in Bluebell were never going to be the same again and somehow she knew that people were going to get hurt and she had a feeling that the town was going to blame her, she found herself nestling closer into Wade trying to shake the thoughts but knowing full well that she wouldn't be sleeping much tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

As Wade began to stir it took a minute for his mind to catch up with where he was and what had happened, as he blinked his eyes open, rubbing them sleepily with his hands he caught the sudden aroma of Guava and strawberries, which he recognised instantly as the smell that struck him every time Zoe Hart brushed past him, stood to close or a gust of warm Alabama air flushed through her hair, he remembered then that she had crawled into his arms last night, and they had slept perfectly intertwined together like they were designed as one, and once again the church social grin spread across his face.

Wade was no stranger to waking up to the scent of a pretty girl on his skin but this was different, this went under his skin, deep under to his very core. He didn't see it coming and he certainly never thought he would fall in love with the sarcastic, argumentative, tiny little doctor who had sashayed her way into Bluebell, turning everything upside down all those months ago, he didn't believe it, and neither did anyone else. As far as the residents of Bluebell were concerned, they all liked wade but they certainly wouldn't trust their daughters anywhere near him, that would be the job of the men like George Tucker.

As Wades eyes finally came into focus he realised that he was waking up on the wrong side of the pond, he was in Zoe's bed, but he was alone. As he looked around the room he located and pulled on the trousers and dress shoes which he had been wearing when he came over to the Carriage house last night, and headed towards the door, picking up his shirt which was discarded on the floor, slipped it over his shoulders as he stepped into the fresh Alabama air.

Last night's storm had past, leaving a cool breeze coming in, which was always a welcomed rarity in Bluebell, but looking around he could see that trees had fallen around the plantation and figured he needed to get to town to help the towns folk clear any debris and then to the Rammer Jammer to make sure there had been no damage overnight, first though he was headed to Lavon's Kitchen where he hoped to find the beautiful brunette that he could finally call his girl.

As he walked up to the main house, he wondered what the town would make of Wade Kinsella finally settling down to one girl, even though he had been married before no one took that seriously, and apparently the whole of Bluebell, and possibly Alabama knew that he and Zoe were perfect for each other before either of them had a clue, or were willing to admit it anyway.

As Wade pushed the screen door back he could see Zoe sat at one of the bar stools at Lavon's kitchen island, while their landlord and friend was buzzing around cooking something that sure smelled like blueberry pancakes,

"Mornin' Lavon… hey there, Doc?"

He reached over and kissed Zoe tenderly on the side of her temple as he spoke, she closed her eyes and savoured his warm touch before looking up at him and smiling shyly, then reaching out to him tenderly placing her tiny hand on his bare abdomen, glad that he hadn't buttoned his shirt, as he turned and slid onto the stool next to her. When they both looked away from each other, Lavon was stood stock still on the other side of the island staring, eyebrows raised, questioning look in his eye, back and forth at them each in turn;

"Lavon Hayes is sensing a shift in things around his plantation and is wondering which one of his friends is going to tell him what's going on?"

Wade jumped up from his stool grabbed a pancake from the plate Lavon had suspended in mid-air in his hands, kissed Zoe quickly on her head and made his way quickly out of the kitchen calling back to them as he went,

"Sorry I can't stay… I gotta run an' check on things in town after that storm hit pretty nasty last night… catch ya later Lavon, see ya later Girl"

With that Wade was back out in the Alabama breeze heading over to his place for a quick change before heading into town as he promised, he couldn't help noticing that Zoe had not said a word while he was in the kitchen, not a hint of a sarcastic comment or even flirty banter… nothing, and that was most unlike her, plus he thought he saw a flash of doubt or maybe even regret in her eyes just before she crawled back into bed last night and he was hoping that she wasn't having second thoughts, but then, she did crawl in with him, and the softness in the way she looked at him at breakfast and gently grazed his stomach didn't feel like someone backing off… Damn even after finally admitting their feelings for each other last night, Zoe Hart was still infuriating as hell. Wade smiled to himself again as he headed out of his front door off to town…

Back in the big house, Zoe was staring into the bucket of coffee she had poured herself and Lavon was still in front of her looking on quizzically,

"So Miss Zoe, you wanna tell Lavon, what happened last night"

"Oh Lavon, it's all such a mess…."


	3. Chapter 3

_Authors Note: Thank you everyone for the reviews, I am not entirely sure where I am going take this story but I am just going to keep writing when I have the inspiration. I love Zoe and Wade and am a true romantic at heart and just wanted to write a story where she finally see's wade the way we do, and I'm not really a huge fan of George running out on his wedding to kiss someone else, who does that? I'll keep going and see where I end up – keep reviewing, thanks for reading! _

Chapter 3

"he did WHAT..?"

Lavon practically screeched as Zoe just looked up at him from her Coffee, his eyebrows pulled so high in shock they could be mistaken for a new hair style,

"How could he do that to Wade… to Lemon?"

"I know that's why I didn't want to tell Wade, but now he's gone off to the Rammer Jammer, and its only gonna take a matter of minutes before he finds out about Lemon and George, let's face it, this is Bluebell after all, and then he's going to rush over to his friend to comfort him having no idea why he ran out on his blushing bride… what should I do Lavon? I can't hurt Wade but I'm scared he's gonna lose his best friend over this one way or another… I need to catch him.. and say what? Ahhhh"

"Hey Big Z, BREATHE! I need to go and see Lemon, see just as you can't bear the thought of hurtin' Wade, after everything I can't stand to think that Lemon is hurtin' too, so finish up and lets go" Lavon said calmly.

As Zoe picked up her giant cup of coffee with 2 hands draining the last of the dark liquid into her mouth, hoping that it would give her that tiny extra boost that she needed after such a restless and eventful night, her mind wandered back to the events of yesterday.

She had started the day trying to convince herself that there was still a chance for her and George, that he still had feelings for her and most importantly she needed to get her friendship with Wade back on track. What she hadn't expected was the feeling she got when Wade looked at her like he was never going to forgive her, something knotted in her stomach and she hated it.

Eventually she realised what Lavon had been saying to her all this time was right and when wade gently pushed her hair across her shoulder as he fixed up the cut on her shoulder, she could feel more electric in the simple touch from his fingers that she had ever felt before. Wade may have protested that it was only sexual frustration but the electricity in their kiss in the barn, and then the passion between them as he had carried her into her bedroom later that evening was unlike anything she had ever experienced, and she knew that there was more to this than they had admitted with words.

She had to find him and explain that even though the 'golden boy' that she had been pining after for months had walked up her front step and kissed her last night, that it felt nothing, not in even a tenth of what she felt when he gently pushed her back against the wall in her carriage house, she knew that George would tell Wade unknowingly if he saw him first and she needed to explain this all to him, the warmth of butterflies she had felt in the pit of her stomach, the tingle she had felt in practically every cell of her body when he just looked at her with those glistening blue eyes of his, before it was too late.

Her and Lavon sat in silence in his expensive SUV on their way into town, him lost in thoughts of Lemon and her Wade, when they eventually pulled up in town she called her thanks to Lavon as she jumped out of the cab and ran towards the Rammer Jammer, ignoring the passing glances from people as she went, she couldn't worry about that now she had only one thing on her mind, get to Wade.

As she reached the front door of the Rammer Jammer she pushed it open and stepped inside stopping short inside the doorway, there he was, stood behind the counter polishing glasses getting things ready to open the bar later that day, and she knew as soon as their eyes met that he knew.

Their gazes fixed for what seemed like an eternity and she sensed that Shelley and the others that were sweeping leaves from the floor and placing tables back into position all stop, holding their breath as they looked at each other, his eyes filled with pain and disappointment. He slowly put the glass back on the counter threw the cloth he had been using over his shoulder, broke her gaze, and turned and walked away disappearing into the back of the bar.

In that moment Zoe felt her stomach ache as if someone had punched her, all the others in the room silently looked away and carried on with what they were doing, the room was spinning and she thought she might fall but she propelled herself forward, she needed to get to him, she needed to explain why she hadn't told him last night and make him understand that unbeknown to her she had fallen for him, and while yes George was everything on paper she wanted, pillar of the community, lawyer, successful and handsome, it was her body and heart that needed to be next to the man who had looked after her continuously since she had moved to town, saving her, caring about her for her, not only because of a notion that she represented, the man that made any place they were together home, she wanted… no she needed Wade.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Wade grinned as he made his way to the Rammer Jammer, stopping a couple of times to move some of the larger branches fallen from the trees out of the road, the image of Zoe smiling up at him from her morning coffee, that soft look in her big brown doe eyes, stuck in his mind, and he knew that image was going to get him through the day until he got back to the plantation, and he could once again take the tiny doctor in his arms and kiss her gently and passionately till morning.

Thankfully the town seemed to have made it through the storm relatively unscathed, aside from twigs and leaves everywhere and a few of the town signs hanging at an unusual angle things didn't seem too bad, there were people around sweeping the storm away as quickly as the breeze had swept the turbulent clouds out of Bluebells sky, so Wade headed straight to the Rammer Jammer.

"hey there y'all"

Sang wade as he swung through the door into the bar where he had worked for the last 10 years since he and George graduated from high school, which reminded him he need to call Tucker to apologising for bailing on his wedding last night, he hoped when he explained the new developments between him and Zoe he would understand.

That's when he saw his buddy sitting at the counter with his head in his hands as Shelley, Tom and a couple of the other town folk were replacing discarded chairs and sweeping away the debris that had blown in onto the floor of the Rammer Jammer.

George was in a dishevelled white shirt and black trousers and he looked like he had been sitting there for quite some time, Wade walked behind the bar and quipped,

"Hey buddy, you look shocking, what you doin' here anyhow, shouldn't you be off with Mrs Tucker somewhere?"

George lifted his head and looked at wade then went into the whole sorry story of the doubts he had been having, his conversations with Zoe and his eventual walking out on his wedding, he went on to tell Wade all about his trip to the plantation and Zoe's carriage house, all the while wade stood there hardly able to believe what he was hearing but not letting the man sat in front of him see the pain in his heart hoping that his eyes wouldn't betray him.

He suddenly had a flash back to the look on Zoe's face as she had re-entered her bedroom last night just before she had crawled into bed next to him as they fell to sleep, and it all started to make sense, what he wondered is why George clearly had no idea that he had been there, why hadn't Zoe told George that he shouldn't have kissed her because she was with him now, and that's when it hit him, she didn't want to be with him, last night was just a mistake, getting it out of their systems.

Wade felt stupid that he had thought that it had been anything more than that, after all, Zoe had been quite clear for months that George Tucker was the man she wanted, even her brief fling with the vetenarian had not been able to compete with that.

Wade could still hear his friend talking but he was lost, lost in the hurt and frustration, with her for not realising what they could be and frustration at himself for thinking that he could ever compete with the George Tuckers of this world, I mean what could he offer a girl, the local bartender with a penchant for muscle cars, cheap beer and evenings strumming at his guitar. Zoe was from New York, she needed a big successful city slicker type that could challenge her, someone like George, and now he wanted her too, that's when he knew he had lost her.

"Wade? Hey Wade, are you even listening to me?"

"hell yeah I'm listening George and I think you should just go…"

"What, why I need your help figuring out what I need to do…"

"you know what George for someone so book smart you can be damn stupid sometimes you know that, now just get the hell out of my bar…"

With that Wade turned his back on his friend making out like he was rearranging the liquors on the back of the bar but really just waiting until he heard the scrape of the bar stool and swing of the screen door as George stood and left the Rammer Jammer, with this, Wade stopped rearranging placed both hands on the back of the bar steadying himself, closed his eyes as his head dropped for a moment so he could compose himself.

A few minutes later he reopened his eyes, grabbed a cloth and started to mechanically polish glasses, setting his bar up for the rest of his afternoon and evening, trying desperately to convince himself that it had just been the storm that pulled him and Zoe together, like it had during the heat wave, and that he would get over this after a few cold beers later.

That's when he heard the screen door swing back and saw her tiny, perfect petit frame standing in the door way, her hair billowing slightly from the breeze as the screen door swung shut behind her, the bar fell silent, he hadn't spoken to anyone else but he knew that that they had all herd his altercation with George. As their gazes met across the room he knew that his eyes had finally betrayed him, it was like she could see right through him, she could see the real him, so he had to break her gaze and he turned and walked back into the empty office.

Once there he closed the door and rested his head on the door balling his hands into fists, how had he let this happen, he was Wade Kinsella, he didn't get his heart broken… what was worse is that he had a feeling that things were about to get a lot more complicated, that's when he heard the gentle knock on the other side of the door,

"please Wade, I need to talk to you…"

He could almost hear the desperation in her voice and it sounded like she was on the verge of breaking, the sound of her pain seared through him like a hot poker so he slowly opened the door to the office to see her standing there, her beautiful, all be it now glassy brown eyes staring straight at him.

Wade stepped back to let her past and she moved forward slowly into the office, closing the door behind her.

_Authors note: Thanks for continuing to read. The latter part of this chapter once Wade drifts off into his own thoughts when George is talking to him, I could hear Staind's track Outside playing behind this in my mind, not maybe the most obvious choice but a beautiful song. Hope you all enjoy my latest chapter._


	5. Chapter 5

_Authors note: strangely I now seem to be hearing a song behind each scenario that I write and this chapter is no different, this is Secret smile by semisonic. People have been keen for me to get to the conversation between Wade and Zoe and so we are finally here, I am back at work tomorrow so the updates will slow but keep the reviews coming I love to see what y'all think and I'll update as soon as I can – I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint._

CHAPTER 5

Zoe propelled herself through the room trying not to trip over the bar stools as she went, just before she reached him she heard the door to his office slam closed stopping her in her tracks. She felt like a belt was tightening round her chest forcing the breath from her, her lungs unable to fill with the cleansing air she so desperately needed, her mind started to run at a million miles an hour as the panic set in at the thought that she might have messed this up and ruined any chance they may have had, she closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears and gently knocked on the door,

"Please Wade; I need to talk to you…"

She held her breath but then the door moved, opening, revealing Wade stood on the other side, looking down at her, their eyes met and she walked into the office, closing the door.

Zoe had no idea how he managed it but Wade made a simple white t-shirt, Jeans and a plaid shirt look so damn good, in fairness he always looked pretty good, he had taken her breath away last night when he climbed her stairs in his suit, made her heart skip a beat when he laid around the pond in nothing but his fishing shorts, but there was something about those plaid shirts… she drew her eyes away from his torso, she needed to focus.

"So Wade, listen I need you to understand something…"

Before she could carry on she felt the belt crushing her chest slightly more as Wade interrupted her,

"Na you know what Doc, you listen, since you and your stupid little shorts came, strollin' into town you have turned everything back to front and made my life hell, I showed you parts of me that nobody saw, you listened when I told you about crazy Earl, and the real reason I stayed in Bluebell and let my brothers go off and live their dreams or whatever,

The people in this town always assumed that I was a no good slacker who was too easily distracted by a pretty gurl, that I drank too much beer, and that I would probably live the rest of my days in the Mayors gate house, and I was fine with that, people had no expectations, so I couldn't disappoint no one.

Then you came along Zoe, you made me feel like I couldn't be happy with that life anymore not only that but it was the carefree life I had fallen into that was the very reason I would never be good enough for you, so I opened up to you, tryin' stupidly to justify some of the choices I made to try and make you see that I was just as good a guy as Golden boy…"

Zoe watched as he turned away from her as he said this, she stepped forward placing her hands on his waist, resting her forehead on his back between his strong shoulder blades, slowly he turned to face her and she clung on to the front of his shirt to steady herself, she could feel the heat of his skin through his shirt, the smell of him, no cologne, just him, that sweet smell that woke every cell in her body,

"…But it wasn't enough was it? I'm still not good enough for you"

The panic was back, she felt paralysed and didn't have a clue where to start to make him see, he started to pull away from her and she clung to his shirt even tighter knowing that she had to do something, now.

"That's just it Wade, I was so busy telling myself that someone like George is who I was supposed to end up with, that's all I had known, doctors, Lawyers, New York, I clung to that not realising that Bluebell changed me, you changed me Wade."

With this Zoe's hands were snaking up around his neck and back down over his chest pulling down on his shirt trying to break the tension between them, trying to force his lips down towards hers, but Wade stood fast.

Zoe felt the hot stream of tears start to flood down over her cheeks,

"you were right last night when you said that there's something here, and I am kicking myself that I hadn't seen it before now, you drive me crazy Wade, you make me laugh, you frustrate me, you infuriate me… you excite me, you…"

With that she felt his thumb gently stroke across her face wiping away some of the torrent of tears that were now streaming down her face.

"I need you Wade, nowhere is home without you, now I have finally realised this I am terrified that I have broken this, that you are going to leave me"

He finally softened lifting his other hand and cupping her face, resting his forehead on hers as her hands slowly moved up over his shoulders, her fingers grazing each sculpted muscle as she went, her lips moving to his neck slowly taking in the taste of him, Zoe kissed all the way up his neck, across his beautiful masculine jawline to the corner of his mouth, that's when he gently took her shoulders and pushed her away from him, not far, just enough so her lips could no longer touch his skin, he looked into her eyes so deeply she felt like he was looking right into her mind, and in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible, he said,

"Why didn't you tell him?"

Zoe had not expected this question especially as she already felt so vulnerable as his serious eyes which seem to have taken on the colour of the deep blue Alabama sky at dusk bore right through her,

"Well… I…."

"if what you say is true and you do really want to be with me and have no more romantic feelin's for Tucker, why didn't you tell him last night when he came up to your door?"

The panic was back,

"I… I don't know… it was… WADE… NO WAIT…"

Wade had started to pull away from her again as the sobs hit her fast, she was clawing at his shirt as his back straightened again and he walked past her to the door, he turned back to look at her,

"I think it would be best if you follow the lead of golden boy, I kicked him out of here too, Goodbye Zoe"

And with that he was gone, Zoe felt herself crashing to the floor, breaking into a million pieces as she sobbed, Shelley appeared at the door, and Zoe vaguely heard her asking if she was ok, but she didn't want to talk, she couldn't talk right now, the one person she wanted to talk to had just turned his back on her. She picked herself up from the floor and ran out of the Rammer Jammer, back towards the plantation where she just wanted to curl up in her bed and shut out the world smelling the intoxicating scent of wade that still lingered in her bed, no cologne, just him, that sweet smell that broke every cell in her body.

_So I hope you enjoyed this, I know not the outcome a lot of you were hoping for but I have the next 3 chapters planned just need to get them written, I hope you will stick with me Zoe and Wade through this. Thanks for Reading._


	6. Chapter 6

_Authors note: This next chapter is from neither Zoe's or Wade's POV as my previous chapters had been, but is a general narrative of how things progressed in Bluebell over the next few days, the track playing in my mind for this one is Staind – it's been a while._

Chapter 6

It had been 5 days since the storm, the fallen trees and all been removed, the streets had been cleared of debris, and the signs all returned to their normal positions, so on the surface things in Bluebell seemed to have returned to normal, well, as normal as they could do after the events of last week.

Lemon had gone back to bossing about the belles, having meetings with the memory matrons, it all seemed to be a little sharper than before, but we all know lemon had never been the softest of girls, but Lavon could see the pain in her eyes every time he looked at her, even though she seemed to be ignoring the fact that George had left her, when they were in public anyway.

Lavon had continued to make breakfast for his tenants each day despite the fact that they would never eat in the same room at the same time anymore, he had continued with his mayoral duties, and may have been spending a little more of his time with Lemon but nothing else much had changed with him. He wanted to be able to put his town back together again but it seemed so many of his close friends were broken he had no idea where to start putting them back together again.

After Wade had kicked him out of the Rammer Jammer George had finally pieced together what had been happening with him and Zoe and decided that he would be better off out of their way, especially as Zoe wouldn't return his calls, so he called Deedee, packed a few things from his office, gave her the week off and headed to Mobile, away from the judgemental glances from the towns folk, you could say this was the cowards way out, but what else did he have to stay for now?

Wade was well and truly in lock down, he was functioning on a basic level, in that he would eat, sleep, work, occasionally play his guitar and then repeat the whole process, but the mischievous glint was gone from his eye, he didn't want to talk to anyone, not Shelley, not Lavon, definitely not George and certainly not Zoe, even when the latter appeared on his porch steps one night, pleading with him, he couldn't handle it and sent her away, the way he figured if you push away the hurt for long enough it had to go eventually right?

Zoe had been through heart ache before, that's how she ended up in Bluebell in the first place, but it was just that, heart ache, this time she felt like someone and pulled her heart right out of her chest, pulled it into two and only replaced one part of it, this pain had only magnified that until the night of the storm she had not seen it coming, this thing with Wade, had hit her from behind, taking her by surprise, instantly consuming everything in her being. Those first couple of days, she had avoided George's calls, she just couldn't face it, it wasn't his number she wanted to see flashing on the screen of her iPhone. She had tried calling Wade, she had even been over to the gate house to try and speak to him, but he just turned her back on her as he had the day after the storm in his office, and took the other part of her heart with him. As Wade was, she too had carried on with her day to day life, things had become even tenser in the doctor's office, Zoe knew that Brick blamed her for George leaving his Lemon, even though the iciness had thawed slightly when he had found out about Lemons affair with Lavon. Zoe didn't care she didn't have the energy to argue with Brick right now, she just stayed in her office treated her patients and went home.

It was like someone had pulled a band aid off of bluebell revealing a red raw scar, not a physical scar but an emotional one, although everyone went about their daily business they all seemed so broken, the smiles where gone replaced by heavy hearts and you could almost hear the keys turning, locking people out as each person tried in their own way to protect themselves from any more hurt, the whole atmosphere in bluebell had shifted and it rippled through everyone, the ladies no longer sat on the bench in town watching/gossiping about the people, Rose no longer updated her Blog as she usually did every day or two, even Burt Reynolds had stopped tormenting Zoe, and finally there was a new fuse box on the plantation, and no amount of coffee machines or bug zappers was going to make that thing blow.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Wade lay in bed looking up at the fan on his ceiling, wearing just his boxers, a sheet tangled over his legs, with one arm behind his head propped up on his pillow. He knew it was late, how late he wasn't sure but he couldn't sleep, the light was still on over at the carriage house and he wondered if Zoe was having as much trouble as he was sleeping. Last week he had tried a few glasses of bourbon to try and make him sleep, this didn't work so he had a few more, when this didn't work he decided to abandon this plan not wanting to end up like crazy Earl, being sung from the rooftop of the Rammer Jammer or something.

Instead he continued to stare at the fan on his ceiling, lost in thoughts of her.

Wade never thought he would fall in love, he wasn't sure he was capable of it, but he now realised that he just hadn't met anyone like her before, she was sarcastic, argumentative, stubborn as hell, there unlikely friendship made him question everything he was doing, she made him feel like he could do more, she made him want to be the best version of himself that he could be. The best version for her.

It didn't hurt that for someone as small as she was, her legs seemed to go on forever, her long chocolate hair had hints of golden after a few months in the Alabama sun, she smelt like sweet fruits and soap that intoxicated him. Then there was those eyes, her beautiful brown eyes that could tear right through to his very core. The last time he had looked into those eyes all he saw was pain and he hated that.

She had turned up on his doorstep two nights ago pleading with him to just talk to her, he couldn't bear to hear her, worried that she would just tell him that she wanted to be his friend again, he couldn't just be her friend, not any more so he had sent her away.

He may not have been talking to her but that didn't mean he didn't sit on his porch in the darkness each night just waiting for her to walk through her own screen door, knowing she was home safely he could rest a little easier, not as easy as if she was curled into the crook of his arm, cheek resting against his chest, but a little easier never the less.

As he continued to lay there he was taken back to the night of the storm, it had all started in that Barn with that kiss and then the tension which was always between them had thickened the air so much it was a wonder Bill could catch his breath in the journey back to the plantation, that night they had been together was unlike any other night, he didn't realise it at the time but that was the first time he had truly made love to someone, and he couldn't push the thoughts of that night out of his mind, the electricity between them, the passion as they kissed, the way she looked at him as he carried her into her bedroom, how their bodies seemed to fit together as they were one, limbs snaking around each other, fingers exploring her soft skin as they moved together in perfect harmony, he had never known it like that before and as he lay there he wasn't sure he would ever experience that with anyone ever again.

That's when he started thinking, what was he doing laying there, he hadn't seen George coming over at all this week so he assumed that they weren't together now, she had pleaded with him to talk to her, and he could see the pain in her eyes when she looked at him, and what they had that night couldn't all be fake could it?

That was it, he made a decision, he jumped out of bed pulled on the nearest pair of jeans he could find and headed out onto his front porch, taking the steps 2 at a time, he raced forwards towards the carriage house before he lost his nerve, he had some things he needed to say to her.

He sped up her stairs and headed straight through her front door not bothering to knock, she was sat at her laptop at the small desk in the corner of her lounge room, he could see the surprise on her face and he was pacing quickly up and down the room in front of her, then he frantically started before she had time to say anything,

"You know what Zoe, since you came to town you have driven me totally crazy, getting up in my thoughts every minute, with your stubborn little argumentative ways, urgh I can't get you out, it's like I have some kind of disease that needs doctorin', but I can't go to my doc, coz that's you! You and your little shorts changed everything around here and I for one can't shake it, my life just don't work without you in it anymore, and quite frankly I… I don't think I want it to…"

With that he stopped frantically pacing, looked at her briefly before he stormed towards her, grabbed her tiny hand pulling her up from the chair where she sat too shocked to say anything, practically catching her in his arms as he moved one hand around her waist, and the other into her hair, pulling her lips up to his as he had that first week when she was busting him about building the float, he kissed her that day to snap her out of a rant, he did it tonight to snap himself out of one.

That kiss was full of passion and pain as she gave into him and kissed him back, there was so much fire between them they kissed deep and hard, gradually Wade softened moving to cup her face with both hands as he slowly broke away from her, resting his forehead against hers, both of their eyes still closed soaking in every emotion that had just flooded between them.

Eventually she pulled back slightly, just enough that they could look at each other, he could look into the eyes that had awoken more in him in the few months she was here, than anyone else had in a lifetime, as he stared at her, he wanted to say it, he wanted to tell her that he loved her, he got the impression that her eyes were trying to say something similar to him too but he couldn't do it, instead he said, as she smiled at him,

"Welcome home Zoe Hart"

And with that he scooped her up in his arms and carried her through to her room as he had that first night, the night if the storm.

_Authors note: not much to say about this one other than I hope you enjoy, backing track of my mind, Lifehouse - Everything_


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

As Zoe sat at her small desk trying to catch up on some of her paper work from the practice, she heard the door of the gate house across the water swing shut. She noticed how aware she had been of Wades comings and goings over the past few days.

It was pretty late, how late Zoe wasn't sure but she knew he had been home from the Rammer Jammer for a while, and hoped that the swinging of his door was not a late night booty call from one of his old 'friends' from town, to be fair she hadn't noticed anyone else up at the gate house all week but hey maybe he was just havin a bit of a dry spell, maybe he was in a bad mood with everyone, yeah that must be it, well he certainly didn't want to talk to her about anything that's for sure.

Two nights earlier she did something that she had to say if you told her she would do when she first arrived from New York she would have thought you were coo coo crazy, but hey that had kind of been the theme of things recently, she found herself remembering the sleepless nights she had had since that day at the Rammer Jammer, she couldn't eat, she tried talking to Shelley who wanted to stay well out of this hostility between two of her friends, she had even tried talking to Rose, but she was too young to really get what she was going through, Zoe kinda thought maybe she might be too young to understand it all. She was transported back to the night of the storm briefly and then to two nights ago when she climbed Wades porch stairs and pleaded with him to talk to her. She had tried singing, she tried the stupid dance from the barn again, and even though some people told her she wasn't very good at it, Wade included, she even tried the whole seductive flirting gambit. She figured if she could just explain, make him see then it would all be ok, she had no idea what she was going to say, but hey she is a doctor she had to be able to think of something right? As it turned out it didn't matter, he wouldn't listed, he just turned his back and walked away from her, repeatedly!

She was dragged back to the here and now by the sound of hasty footsteps on her porch followed the swing of her screen door, there he was frantically pacing up and down in front of her, just before her mind could catch up and engage her mouth to say something, he was already saying,

"You know what Zoe, since you came to town you have driven me totally crazy, getting up in my thoughts every minute, with your stubborn little argumentative ways, urgh I can't get you out, it's like I have some kind of disease that needs doctorin', but I can't go to my doc, coz that's you! You and your little shorts changed everything around here and I for one can't shake it, my life just don't work without you in it anymore, and quite frankly I… I don't think I want it to…"

His rant had given her a minute for her brain to catch up although she still wasn't expecting what he did next, her eyes widened as he raced towards her grabbing her up from where she had been sat stock still, shocked by his sudden presence in front of her, it was like every cell in her body tingled as his lips crashed against hers. The physical effect that Wade Kinsella had on her still took her by surprise even though she had resigned herself to the fact despite months of self-denial, that in fact, Wade Kinsella, rung her bell, was her cup of tea, downright swept her off her feet, however you wanted to put it, it was electric, exciting, new, undeniable and right here in her living room,

"Welcome home Zoe Hart"

And her heart gave a little twinge as she realised that he had been listening when she had been ranting on in the office of the Rammer Jammer when she had told him that 'nowhere was home without him,' not only had he been listening, but he remembered and used it to comfort her.

See now this is the Wade that she knew, the Wade with the big heart, sensitive Wade, the Wade that put absolutely everyone else, no exception, before himself (not that he would probably ever admit half of this himself), this was her Wade.

She reached up to stroke his cheek and as she did so he easily and gracefully scooped her up into his arms and she relished being able to slid her hands around his muscular shoulders and nuzzled his neck, feeling his skin react to her touch.

He carried her through to her bedroom and gently laid her down on her bed, and they spent the night intertwined and lost in each other, he made her laugh, he made her feel sexy, he made her feel beautiful and most of all he made her feel like she was the only women in the world, (and it helped that he was hot!) what more could a girl ask for she giggled to herself.

The next morning when Zoe woke up he was already up and gone, she never could figure out how someone who was so used to being up late at night, managed to be such a morning person, even before coffee. Just as she pulled on her robe she heard his car pulling up outside and he came bounding, full of energy, up the stairs like he had been sleeping for a week, not the 2 or 3 hours which was much more like the reality of the situation,

"well good mornin' there Zoe Hart, I have for you some coffee and your favourite breakfast, …one Greek omelette… well there's some feta cheese in there, I didn't really know what a Greek omelette is but hey, it smells good…"

She watched him start to unpack the bag of food as she walked towards him, and slid herself under his arm between his solid body and the table where he was moving containers , slipping her hands around his waist, looking up at him,

"Well hey there little lady..."

"Thank you…"

"Believe me the pleasure is all mine, but what for?" He said leaning down kissing her neck, running his hands from her tiny waist, up her back and into her hair,

"You know the usual, saving me, taking care of me, for breakfast… but mostly for forgiving me…"

"well you know Doc, maybe we should come up with some kinda plan with ways for you to make it up to me… I just so happen to have a few suggestions that come to mind."

"hmm yeah I bet you do…"

And with that breakfast was forgotten and before they knew it, it was the middle of the afternoon and they both realised that they were starving and should go and get some food,

"so I guess we were gonna have to see other people sometime?"

"Come on Doc, how bad do you think it can be, cant be nothing worse than we already faced…"

"ok come on then lets go, good job us New Yorkers are tough!"

Wade laughed as he grabbed her hand and they headed to his car, she jumped in the seat next to him and they moved off towards town, leaving their cocoon on the plantation behind.

Zoe had no idea why she was so nervous, she hadn't done anything wrong, not really, George had been the one to call off his wedding and kiss someone else, yes she hurt Wade but he had forgiven her so surely the rest of the town should too right? Unfortunately Zoe had been in bluebell long enough to know that unfortunately New York logic, did not always translate in Alabama. Her stomach was in knots as they pulled up outside the Rammer Jammer and Wade came round to her side of the car as she climbed out, planting a kiss on her tense mouth,

"stop worrying Doc, come on, I got ya…"

With that wade put his arm protectively round her shoulders, she took a deep breath as they headed for the door, which she was sure was all that sat between her and the whole of bluebell, or at least what would feel like it anyway, this would also be the first time she had been back here since her and wade argued, and that definitely wasn't one of her finest memories of the Rammer Jammer.

Well it was now or never, thank goodness she had Wade by her side, saving her once again, she clung to the back of his shirt desperately, as they headed through the door, to face the music, the judgements of bluebell, of their home.


	9. Chapter 9

_Authors note: sorry I haven't written for a while I have been in the process of moving house but finally got rid of the final box so can pick up the keyboard again. I hope the story hasn't lost momentum and I hope you all continue to enjoy. This next Chapter will be told from Lemon's POV._

CHAPTER 9

If there is one thing that Lemon's mother had taught her before she left when she was 16 its that she should always behave like a lady when in public, don't make a scene and certainly don't let people see your weakness. Her ability to do this had been heavily tested in the 5 days since George humiliated her in front of the whole of Bluebell and broke her heart, she can't say she was surprised things had been rough between them for months, but it still ripped to her very core.

Lemon had tried to carry on life as normal ignoring the hurt of her and George and the shame of her and Lavon, but tonight decided that she needed to get away from the belles who she knew were only putting up with her stinging biting attitude because they felt sorry for her, and her dad who would look at her like she was the most pitiful broken little thing he had ever seen, she knew he meant well and was just trying to figure out how he could make it better but she needed to get away from it tonight.

She had heard through the Bluebell grape vine that George was out of town so she knew that there was no chance of bumping in to him and Lavon who had been amazing during everything but just wanted to talk and dissect every little thing was in mobile on a mayoral trip and no one else in town had the guts to come to her, except maybe Wade but he had been in his own sour mood for some reason this week anyhow.

So when lemon entered the Rammer Jammer she picked the small round table in the back of the bar where she could sit and think and watch the comings and goings of the towns folk without disturbing anyone, she had ordered a scotch from Shelly, not her usual tipple but it felt appropriate this evening.

As she sat and slowly sipped her 3rd whiskey she started to re run her and George's relationship over in her mind, the first years through high school and college when they had been the envy of everyone, they had the perfect relationship like you see in the movies, they never argued and they knew that they were destined to stay in bluebell and raise their family and that would be that. That was until George had decided that he wanted to go and live in New York, Lemon had been supportive hoping that he would be gone for a while and then he would miss her and bluebell and come home, however now looking back that was the first mistake that they had made.

It was while George was away she realised that maybe they weren't so perfect after all, it seemed that it was just the movies making her want her and George to be perfect, when in actual fact Lavon made her fell like George never had. She realised that her had George had been together so long, she had never been with anyone else, how could she know if it was perfect when she had nothing to compare it to?

Lemon closed her eyes and winced slightly as she recalled the memory of her and Lavon cheating on George and the fact that she was sorry she hurt George but not sorry that it had happened, she had loved Lavon and she was starting to think that maybe she still did, maybe this was why she hadn't tried to find George to reconcile their relationship, maybe this is why she had allowed Lavon to be the one to comfort her and be her confidant once again in George's absence, she knew that it could be potentially dangerous but she had started to open herself to the idea of them together, he had started coming around to offer her support but truly after a couple of days once the shock of what happened had started to subside and she felt more angry in the way that George had ended things she started to look forward to Lavon's visits, she loved spending time with him, they had fun and it was easy being around him, she could be herself. She knew Lavon still loved her and she certainly could love him again, that is if she didn't already.

Lemon was brought back to reality when she heard the Rammer Jammer come to a silent halt around her; she looked up to see everyone stopped facing the door where 2 figures stood.

She hadn't seen Zoe since before the wedding that never was, and she had assumed that she was where ever George was, that certainly would have explained Wade's foul mood too, and everyone knew he had a soft spot for the Doctor.

She certainly didn't expect to see them together, wades hand resting gently on her shoulder his thumb caressing the back of her neck reassuringly holding her close to him, from the angle she was sitting she could see that Zoe was clinging on to the back of Wades shirt like it was the only thing keeping her upright, she saw Wade look down at her and smile and then he slipped his hand into hers and started to move towards the Bar, everyone's eyes were still on them when Shelley called out so everyone who was sitting there not knowing how to react could hear,

"well, it's about time you two sorted things out and got on with it, you've been drivin' us all crazy with all y'alls foolin around for months!"

With that the people around them let out a few laughs and started to talk amongst themselves again. Lemon saw Zoe take a huge breath and sigh with relief as she nudged wade affectionately as they sat down. This was the girl that effectively put the final nail in the coffin of her relationship with George and she was now sitting here with another good bluebell man, but she was happy that Wade must have finally told her how he feels about her, but she couldn't help thinking that she should be furious at this girl, who had been her nemesis the entire time since she had moved into Bluebell and disrupted her life.

She didn't know if it was the goings on of the last few months or the 4 glasses of scotch she had but Lemon rose from her seat and started to make her way towards the bar where Zoe and Wade were seated laughing and joking with Shelley, who stood on the other side of the counter.

The rammer jammer had started to fall silent again as Lemon weaved between the tables and as she drew nearer she saw Shelley's expression change like she was unsure and scared of what Lemon was going to do next, no one was expecting what happened though, least of all Lemon.


	10. Chapter 10

_Authors note: I have a feeling that this story may only have about another 2 chapters in it, unless I can find some inspiration on where to take it. I kind of this chapter and the next one mapped out in my mind but I will leave it to you guys if you want me to keep going and continue the story please review and let me know. Thanks for reading x_

Chapter 10

"stop worrying Doc, come on, I got ya…"

Zoe couldn't deny that those three little words uttered at the end of Wade's sentence worked on her body like a sedative she felt instantly more secure and relaxed. Wade had proved time and time again whether they were friends, fighting or flirting that he was always there for her, he was her rock whenever she needed him he was there no matter how much she protested that she didn't need him.

Zoe looked up at him as they walked towards the door of the Rammer Jammer, the smile still crooked across his face but she could see just a small hint of something in his eyes, doubt maybe even fear and it suddenly occurred to her that as nervous as she was about facing the people of Bluebell, many of whom over the last 12 months had become her family, she realized that this is where Wade had lived his whole life, practically every person in the world that he knew lived in this town and she suddenly realized that he could lose all of that thanks to her and she gripped onto him a little tighter pulling him closer to her maybe for his benefit maybe for hers she wasn't sure.

The silence washed over the crowd in the Rammer Jammer as they entered and people put together the image in front of them and came to the conclusion that their lovable rogue of a barman had hooked up with the home wrecking Yankee doctor. Zoe suddenly felt sick for Wade as she hadn't considered the reaction that he would get simply for being with her then she heard Shelley say something and suddenly the tension broke and people around them chuckled as Wade slid his hand into hers and led her towards the bar.

Zoe was shocked that the town seemed to have been so forgiving, although she thought it would have been a very different story if she had have walked in here with George next to her, she was convinced that she wouldn't have been able to face that. She watched Wade as he was joking around with Shelley as they sat and enjoyed their drinks and she couldn't believe that she almost let this beautiful man slip away from her, she reached out and placed her hand on his leg just so she could feel his warmth on her skin, he looked at her and smiled and leaned over and kissed her as she did this, then he went back to his banter with Shelley.

A few minutes had passed and Shelley had gone to serve some guys at the end of the bar and had come back over and was asking for all the details about how they had ended up together, as the three of them were laughing together Zoe suddenly saw Shelley's expression change and she realized for the second time that evening that the Rammer Jammer was falling silent.

As her and Wade turned to see what was going on they saw Lemon coming towards them, Zoe hadn't even realized that she was there, she must have been in the back somewhere, Lemon was on her own coming towards them, her face was unreadable and she seemed to be a little unsteady on her feet. Eventually she reached where her and Wade were sitting and stopped and looked at them, Zoe had been waiting for a run in with Lemon and she was surprised that it hadn't happened before now, but she braced herself for if there is one thing she knew, Lemon must be crazy mad at her and a mad (and apparently slightly drunk) Lemon was a force not to be reckoned with so Zoe decided she just needed to sit and face what Lemon had to throw at her. She felt Wade move from his bar stool and stand next to her protectively and placed his hand on her shoulder supportively, letting her know that he was there in his own special way.

Lemon and Zoe locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity when Lemon finally broke the silence and shocked everyone around her, especially Zoe when she said;

"I just wanted to come over here and say two things to you Zoe, firstly I know you and I have always had a somewhat tumultuous relationship but I want to wish you and Wade well, he is a good man underneath all of that beer soaked bravado and he deserves to be happy, so take care of him, and secondly I want to say Thank You.

For months I blamed you for all the things that were wrong with me and George, and don't get me wrong your crush on him certainly didn't help matters none, but we were having problems long before you came along. The truth is that I felt so guilty about Lavon and me, that it was easier to blame you for things fallin' apart rather than deal with the fact that maybe George and I just weren't meant to be together after all. When you grow up in a town like Bluebell and you are engaged to a man like George Tucker for so long there is such a pressure for you to portray the perfect life that you forget that you are supposed to be a young twenty somethin' girl enjoying your life, not worrying about disappointin' all the towns folk for going for what you want.

If there was truly nothin' wrong in our relationship you having a silly crush on George would have made no difference at all, but the truth is, it shone like a bright light on all the cracks that we had been trying to keep hidden in the dark for so long.

So Zoe I Thank You, thank you for making me turn the lights on and thank you for making me see that you can be happy with someone who may not have been the obvious choice in the big master plan, not the perfect person, but the person that is perfect to us, for you that must be Wade and for me I'm realisin' that that is Lavon, and mostly thank you for making this all happen before I became Mrs. Tucker and made the biggest mistake of my life."

With this Lemon stumbled slightly as she moved forward and wrapped her arms around Zoe, be it all briefly then walked towards the door leaving a trail of stunned silence in her wake.

Zoe and Wade looked at each other in shock as Lemon left and Zoe decided that nothing about Bluebell would ever be able to surprise her after that. Not only did Lemon not yell at her or hit her, she actually thanked her, maybe things would be ok after all, the people in the Rammer Jammer seem to have accepted the new situation between her and Wade, Lemon was more than forgiving even wishing them well. A waterfall of relief washed over them and Zoe finally felt like life could continue and her and Wade could start building their life together.

She smiled at the thought, she had never dreamed that she would be desperate to start a life with Wade but now she could think of nothing else, as she sat there silently watching him as he was talking to Tom and Shelley, she was imagining herself as Mrs. Kinsella, she was imagining how gorgeous there son would be if he had the stubbornness of his mother and the cheekiness of his father he would certainly be a handful, their daughter would be beautiful and would have her daddy wrapped around her little finger but lord forgive the first boy who comes to knock on their porch door to take her to a dance, but Zoe warmed at the thought that this would be their little family and they could handle anything together, and at the age of 29 when the majority of her other friends were at least married or some had children already, this is the first time that Zoe had really seen herself starting a family and that was all thanks to the man sat to her left, she lifted his hand and kissed his knuckles and pulled her stool in closer to him as they continued their night in the Rammer Jammer, laughing and drinking among friends.

As Lemon stepped outside of the Rammer Jammer, the cool night air helped to clear her fuzzy head, she felt surprisingly better after her conversation with Zoe, well she says conversation but Zoe didn't really say anything but she cleared a lot of things up never the less. Lemon felt like a sack weight had been lifted from her soldiers and for the first time was seeing things in a whole new positive light and she knew exactly where she had to go. Lavon had been in Mobile tonight for a meeting but it was gone 11pm so he would most likely be back at the plantation by now, with this thought Lemon smiled to herself and set off out of town walking towards the plantation to go and tell Lavon that he just wasn't perfect, but he was absolutely 100% perfect for her.


	11. Chapter 11

_ Authors note; I have no excuse only apology for how long it has taken me to update, I just couldn't find any more words in me but feel like it's the right time to add a little more, I hope you are all still enjoying and I really appreciate all the comments It's great to know that someone is out there reading what I write. Thanks x_

Wade stood looking at his reflexion in the mirror, the same mirror that he had been staring into, fixing the same suit, on that first night with Zoe. That night he was getting himself ready for George and Lemons wedding, although he never actually made it, and he could only hope that something could keep him from where he was heading this time too.

He never liked to wear a tie, let alone a suit jacket so he twisted awkwardly and fussed with the knot that had taken him 15 minutes to tie, he looked at the floor with a heavy sigh, closing his eyes hoping that today would be over, that's when he felt her gentle hands on the back of his suit adjusting the collar then squeezing his shoulders and pulling him around to face her.

She reached up and touched his face gently, lifting his chin so that his dark grey serious eyes met with hers as she softly uttered his 5 favourite words;

"I love you, Wade Kinsella"

With that he leant down and scooped her into his arms nestling his face in her sweet soft hair feeling her clasp her hands on the back of his head holding him steadily to her, and he wondered how someone as small as Zoe could be so strong and support him so much.

In normal circumstances all he wanted to do was protect her and take care of her and for the last 7 months since that night outside the Rammer Jammer, when she gripped onto him so tightly he thought she might never let go, he had done exactly that, right now though, he had never been so grateful that the roles had reversed.

5 minutes later Zoe finished adjusting his tie, told him how handsome he looked, took his hand and led him out to the Car, where Lavon and Lemon waited patiently for them. He climbed in the back closed the door and when settled, intertwined his fingers with Zoe and looked out of the window.

In the last few weeks things in Bluebell had finally settled down, George had been so ashamed and had alienated so many people after the wedding that never was, he headed back to New York, and although this had only been temporary, he had yet to come back for more than a couple of days at a time. Wade heard that he had found a job in a fancy practice, got an apartment and had started dating, not that he had heard any of this direct as he had still not had a civil conversation with George since their argument in the Rammer Jammer the morning after the Storm.

As for Lemon, she had found Lavon the night she had confronted Zoe in the Rammer Jammer, although the alcohol had somewhat worn off by the time she had made it to the plantation, she still had enough coursing through her veins to give her the courage to tell Lavon exactly what she had been feeling. Since that day, they had taken things slowly to start with, in order to rebuild the love and trust that they had between them, and only a week ago they had announced that Lemon was moving onto the Plantation, so that she could wake up next to the Man she loved every morning.

Zoe and Wade had not moved quite so slowly, Wade had not slept in his own bed since that night they had faced the town, they knew they had been fighting for so long that they wasted no more time. No one had moved into the gate house as Wade had not officially moved out, however, slowly but surely more of his worldly possessions were migrating over the pond and taking up permanent residency in Zoe's home, their home. Wade had never spent so much time in the company of one person without wanting to escape before and every morning he woke up before her, which was pretty much every day as Zoe certainly wasn't much of a morning person, he was overwhelmed by the fact that each day he couldn't wait for her to wake up so he could talk to her and kiss her, and spend the day with her, and every day that sensation grew a little stronger. He now knew what it was to be truly 100% completely in love and he treasured every second.

While lost in that thought, Zoe whispered his name and squeezed his hand and brought him back to the present and he realised that they had made it to their destination. He knew he had to get out of the car and he knew that the whole of bluebell was just ahead waiting for him; there was no turning back now. He slowly closed the car door and looked up ahead, and before he realised, she was by his side again, he put his arm around her shoulders both to keep her as close as she could be, and to steady himself and they gradually moved forward. The four of them tentatively made their way up the large stone staircase and following a nod from Wade, Lavon eventually tugged on the huge door ahead of them, as the door swung open towards them, Wade saw the eyes of bluebell turn and face him as he gripped Zoe a little tighter they started to walk forward, staring straight ahead, so that he didn't have to make eye contact or talk to anyone.

He could hardly comprehend the scene in front of him and felt his head start to spin, the smell of flowers, wood polish and old books was intoxicating, the sight of the photographs the people he had known all his life and most of all the faces of his brothers.

Wade had only two objectives from now on, firstly to walk forward to his seat without falling down, and secondly to say his final goodbye to Crazy Earl, to say goodbye to his Father.


	12. Chapter 12

_Authors Note: Ok guys thanks again for the reviews and favourites on the last chapter_

_western wicked witch - we don't have season 2 yet here on the UK so kind of just letting my imagination go with the flow from now on!_

_Shezz05 – I've kind of mapped out the next 8 chapters and the brothers (1 from the series, 1 that I make up) do come into a couple of those chapters._

_Uika – sorry if any swearing offended you glad you like the fic anyway._

_Lonestar – thank you for reading I am really pleased that you are enjoying what I am writing and I have more on its way._

_Paper Angels – I know it's a bit mean as we love earl but after all the lovey dovey stuff I wanted to add a different emotion into the mix._

Chapter 12.

6 months after the confrontation with **everyone** in the Rammer Jammer, things were pretty good for Zoe, her and Wade had settled into life together and the small amount of time that they would have spent apart before they became a couple, they would now spend together. He was practically living at her carriage house, and she wouldn't have him anywhere else in the world.

Things at the practice had got better too, Brick had warmed after the iciness of the post wedding debacle, and she was making her quota of a 3rd of the patients quite easily now, so for the time being, Harleys legacy was safe, things seemed to be going really well.

Until the evening she got a frantic call from Shelley.

Her and Wade had a rare night together when he wasn't working and so had decided to head into Mobile to see a movie and have a bite to eat, Zoe heard her phone ringing and stepped outside to answer it, she struggled to make out what the frantic person on the other end of the line was saying, then 4 words sunk into her consciousness, Earl… Roof… Wade… Help….

Zoe silently ran back into the theatre grabbed Wade's hand and pulled him out as quickly as she could, and explained the frantic phone call as they hurriedly made their way back to the car.

Wade floored the engine of the big red muscle car and it roared all the way back to bluebell, all the way shouting at himself that he was an idiot and how could he forget that Earl got his check today!

As they pulled round the corner of the street outside the hardware store, Wade was watching the roof and nearly didn't see the crowd of people on the sidewalk, the car had barely come to a halt before he swung the door open and ran into the crowd.

Zoe watched him as he stopped and looked at the man sat on the edge of the curb with a bandage round his head and gripping onto his left arm, still singing, crazy & drunk.

As she rushed in beside Wade, her brain instantly went into Doctor mode and she started asking earl questions and as he seemed to be so drunk he didn't even know what her name was, she got more sense asking those who were stood around.

As she worked she could see Wade pacing up and down rebuking himself, and she realised she needed to give him something to do;

"Hey Wade, come here a second… he seems fine but he has a broken arm that I don't have the equipment at the surgery to deal with, and he took a nasty bump to his head and I wanna get that checked too, just to be on the safe side, so can you help me get him in the car and we can drive him into Mobile?"

Earl wasn't a big man but it still shocked everyone to see Wade effortlessly scoop down without saying a word and lift his father, still singing, and place him gently into the front seat of his car. Zoe clambered into the back and they headed off to the Hospital.

Two days later the 3 of them returned to the Plantation, Wade headed straight to the Rammer Jammer as soon as they had settled Earl into Wade's Gate house where he was sleeping for now so Zoe headed up to the Main house as she needed to talk to Lavon.

Lavon and Lemon were sitting at the counter playing around and laughing when Zoe pushed through the door into the kitchen of the big house, they both stopped to look at her and Lemon jumped up and placed her arm round her and guided her to one of the stools, firing a hundred questions at her all at once.

"Fer cryin out loud Lemon, you need to let the girl answer your questions or we ain't gonna be none the wiser what's goin on!"

Zoe had called Lavon from the hospital on that first day to tell Lavon that Earl had broken his arm but they had put this in a cast and would be fine, but they were worried he might have an intracranial bleed caused by the bump to his head when he hit the pavement, they had actually told Zoe and Wade that the fact that he was drunk may have in fact help to stop him from doing more damage when he fell but, the surgeons were worried that the affect his alcoholism had played on his body would affect how they would manage during surgery.

Now back in the house, Zoe relayed the fact that Earl was in Liver failure and was too week to undergo surgery as his organs would shut down under the pressure so they were unable to fix the bleed in his skull, there was nothing more that could be done.

Zoe was able to give him medication to keep him comfortable but ultimately they were all now playing a waiting game. Tears started to stream down Zoe's face as she was talking, trying to remember how to detach yourself and deliver bad news to loved ones but she couldn't, not when it was Wade's family, her family.

"and the worst part of all this is, Wade won't see him, he has sat in the hospital lounge for 2 days waiting, talking to doctors, pacing around talking to himself, while I go and talk to Earl and try and explain all this to him and explain with no good reason why Wade won't go in and see him.

He thinks it's his fault for not being there to sing him down, he thinks it's his fault for not stopping his Dad drinking in the first place, he thinks it's his fault for not pushing his brothers to do more, he won't see him, he won't say good bye and he won't talk to me about it he's just shut down and I don't know what to do, Lavon you gotta help me, you're his best friend you have known him longer than I have, I really need you to help me before it's too late…"

With this Zoe broke down into Lemons waiting arms and Lavon quietly stood up and walked round kissed Zoe on the top of his head and turned to walk towards the door,

"He's at the Rammer Jammer right? He always works when he's stressed"

"yeah he headed there as soon as we got home. Hey Lavon… Thank you"

"no promises Zoe this might be one break to far for Wade, but I'll try"

Zoe managed to calm herself down and thanked Lemon (it was still strange after everything that they were actually pretty good friends now) and headed back to check on Earl, who was awake when she got back, she sat beside him and checked his vitals in auto pilot like any doctor, and was shocked when Earl looked over and in a soft heartfelt voice said,

"your good for him you know, he's crazy in love with you and you help him to be a good man, the man he was but wouldn't show no one. I'm proud a him, how he cares for people, and I know why he won't come and see me, it's because he cares, he thinks it's his fault right?"

Zoe didn't say anything but just looked at him silently…

"Wade's mama was like you, she made me into the best man, still not half the men that my boys have turned out to be, but the best that I could be, and when she died, I guess I forgot how to be that man and I didn't know how to find my way back, Jesse being the oldest was already gone to the Army, leaving Wade to look after me and Doyle. Luckily for us all, he had enough of his Mama in him that he stayed for us, he worked hard and sent Doyle off to college and he did such a job of looking out for me and his little brother that I forgot that he was broken & hurtin too, it was only when you came along that he started to come back together again."

Zoe had never heard Earl say more than a sentence or two in a row and quite often those sentences would be slurred together, Wade didn't talk much about his mum so it was quite a shock to her to hear Earl talking to her in this way.

"Zoe there's something I want you to do for me, I want you to head over to the house, there's a wooden box on the side in my bedroom, there's an envelope for Wade in there, it's been something I've been working on for a while now, I don't want you to tell his brothers but give it to Wade when I'm gone, I want him to be happy, he spent so much of his life looking after everyone else in his own way that I want to take care of him and his family, his family with you Zoe."

With that Earl closed his eyes and fell back to sleep, his energy depleted from such a heartfelt monologue, Zoe wiped a tear from her cheek and headed out the door to the Kinsella house.

That night Zoe laid in bed, the envelope locked away in the draw by the bed, she heard the door go and then felt the mattress sink as Wade climbed in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her bear shoulder. She could smell the familiar scent of beer on his skin from the Rammer Jammer, and it was a sweet smell that she had come to love, she wriggled around to face him and stroked his face gently,

"I'm Sorry Zoe, I spoke to Lavon and he said I needed to suck it up and talk to you, you been tryin' to keep everything together all on your own and that's not fair, we're meant to be a team, so I'm sorry and I love you, I promise I won't shut you out no more."

Zoe kissed him and they spent the next few hours talking going through everything that had happened, Wade talked to Zoe about his life before her and he told her about his Mama and everything that he had been bottling up inside about his Dad, then fell asleep in her arms.

The next morning when Zoe woke up, Wade was already gone, this was not unusual as he was always awake first, but he didn't respond when she called for him, so he must have actually gone out, then she thought there would be only one place he might have gone. Zoe crawled out of bed, walked round the lake to Wade's place and stopped in the door way as she saw Wade sitting by Earls bed and they had been talking, and they were laughing even more importantly, it had taken a few days but he was finally talking to his Dad, Zoe left them to it with a sigh of relief and pride.

By that afternoon Earl was gone, he had made his peace with Wade and he just let go.


End file.
